Ben Higgs

Background

About Ben Higgs

Rise Foundation Australia ( RFA ) is stepping beyond raising awareness, but educating, empowering and teaching the everyday, practical tools we can use to start helping each other and ourselves so that people no longer have to live in silence with mental illness or poor mental health. After living with Bi Polar for as long as I can remember, I have combined that lived experience with evidence based data and tools to provide the most engaging courses and workshops possible. With mental ill health, mental illness and suicide on the rise, better mental health understanding and acceptance in our communities is more important than ever. It is up to us to better support, protect and respond to those in need. It is also vital that our communities gain the confidence to build a great mental health culture that’s sustainable for the future. Creator of a 24hr treadmill run raising money for Suicide Prevention Australia. Starting locally, this event became the largest event for mental health and suicide prevention in the world, with over 500 gyms and people taking part per year. I was fortunate enough to be awarded an Australia Day Medal for my work with this event. 2016 saw Rise Foundation create and complete Walk It Off. a walk from the Gold Coast to Sydney. 916km in 15 days, talking at schools and sporting clubs along the way. In 2017 i was invited to the USA to talk at the National Behavioural Health Conference in Seattle, and also be interviewed for the global documentary "Suicide : The Ripple Effect " and was also a guest speaker at the 2019 International Bi Polar Foundation conference. I now travel across the country running Mental Health First Aid and Mental Health Response courses, as well as lived experience talks and our very own Rise Up workshop. At RFA our aim is simple. awareness can only get us so far, it is education that will create change. ben@therisefoundation.net